New Year's resolutions.

Each year I make promises to myself that I probably won't keep: Get more exercise, clean up my office and the spare room at home, make a few repairs around the house. So I'm trying a new tack: I'll make New Year's resolutions for you to keep. Here's a 2006 "To Do" list for Plastics Technology readers:

1. I will do something about sky-high resin costs. Even if you don't buy material by the trainload, you don't just have to accept stratospheric prices. Our cover story (p. 40) suggests four often overlooked ways to get more control over what you pay.

2. I will take a look at the trade society's programs for processors. If you're not aware of what's going on at the Society of the Plastics Industry, you're missing out on cooperative education programs with occupational safety organizations, overseas trade missions, activities to influence pending legislation that could help or hurt plastics, data-gathering efforts to benchmark pay scales and other business practices, and special interest groups for different processing sectors.

3. I will take a serious look at technologies I've been reading about. It's not too late to catch up with some tools that your competitors are already using. Improve your operations with real-time process and production monitoring, computer mold simulation for injection molding, gravimetric yield control and auto gauge control for extrusion, advanced screw designs, robotics, and quick-mold changing.

4. I'm going to make plans now to attend NPE 2006 in Chicago. If you're serious about bringing your operations up to date, then attending the hemisphere's biggest trade show is a sound investment.

5. I will take five minutes to fill out editorial surveys from Plastic's Technology. Articles based on reader surveys provide you with information you can't get anywhere else such as machine-hour rates and report cards on new technologies.